


I Kissed a Bloke and I Liked It

by GutterBall



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Chuck is a lot braver than he thinks, First Kisses, M/M, Raleigh is oblivious but understandably so, fluff and snark, friends to something more maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 05:46:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8610991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GutterBall/pseuds/GutterBall
Summary: After months of ironing out their rough patches and forming a weird but satisfying friendship, Chuck suddenly asks Raleigh an awkward favor. Raleigh, because he's a good friend like that, agrees.Fluff ensues. Because these guys need way more fluff.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [estei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/estei/gifts).



> This one's for [estei](http://estei-feist.tumblr.com/), who's having a rough time right now and deserves some cuddles, but it's also sort of for me. I desperately needed to write something frivolous to counter all the protest, research, and technical writing I've been doing since Election Day. Frankly, I needed a break.
> 
> So it may not be any of the longer WiPs on my several backburners, but it's fluffy and it's finished, and that's good enough for me. Estei, these cuddles are for you. You deserve them. *hugs*

"Oi, Ray."

Raleigh didn't look up from his book. He'd chosen his hidey-hole up in the forgotten couples' berths well, but sometimes, someone still came looking for him. It didn't exactly annoy him. Just... he'd spent most of his time alone the past several years, and having good people now was nice and all, but sometimes it was... overwhelming.

That said, his new people usually tried to let him have his solitude when he needed it, so an interruption was probably at least a little important. Especially if it was Chuck.

So: "Yeah?"

"We're mates, yeah? Put all our shit behind us. Talked it all out."

Still not looking up, he grinned. "Put _your_ shit behind us, yeah."

"Oi, I'm fucking serious, here."

Blinking and shaking off the atmosphere of the Overlook Hotel and Jack's slow descent into homicidal madness, Raleigh marked his place and looked up. To his surprise, Chuck actually did look serious.

"Sorry, kid. Uh... yeah? We're friends now?"

Nodding, said kid frowned ponderously and crossed his arms, towering over him but probably not on purpose. It was hard not to loom when Chuck was standing and Raleigh was lounging decadently on an old but comfortably over-stuffed couch.

"So you wouldn't think I was taking the piss if I asked you... to do something... maybe a bit weird?"

It was Raleigh's turn to frown ponderously. "No, I will not shortsheet Mako's bed. We've talked about this."

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Jesus, mate, work with me."

His eyes narrowed as he remembered other ridiculous dares and taunts from their newly-frequent spars. "Nor will I shortsheet the Russians' bed. I didn't live through the apocalypse just to die in peacetime."

The big jerk kid threw up his hands. "Oh, my God, stop guessing!"

Jesus. Chuck was really worked up. His old rival didn't even get this riled during the epic, day-long Monopoly game a few weeks back. Maybe he should take this a bit more seriously.

So, sitting up and crossing his legs, he nodded. "Okay, Chuck. Sorry. Go on."

But now, the freckled face was set and stubborn, not a dimple in sight. "Maybe I don't wanna now, asshole."

Closing his book, Raleigh set it aside and sat up completely, putting his feet on the floor and giving the kid his full attention. Yes, Chuck could still be a pain in the ass, but they really had buried the hatchet months ago and had spent plenty of time getting to know each other's quirks and limits, and he hadn't seen his old rival look quite this thunderous since.

Apparently, Chuck realized he finally had Raleigh's full attention and softened. "I just... don't punch me or anything, but... can I maybe... kiss you? A bit?"

His eyebrows shot up, and Chuck took a prudent step back, hands going up defensively.

"I said don't punch me!"

Though he was surprised -- understatement of the decade -- he couldn't help but snort. "Calm down, kid. I'm not gonna punch you."

To his further surprise, the big dork looked ridiculously relieved by the assurance. Had he really thought Raleigh would deck him over such a silly request?

"I just... why?"

Fidgeting, the kid shrugged, then shrugged again. "Not had much time to play around, yeah? Been with a few girls, but never tried anything with a bloke. Just... curious, I guess?"

He blinked. An uncomfortable silence stretched out between them until Chuck broke.

"Fuck, mate, don't look at me like that. I can't ask Tendo. He's married. If you think I'm asking my old man, you're a sick fuck. I'd rather box a kangaroo than ask any of the Weis, and I'm not sure Kaidanovsky wouldn't eat me for asking."

His mouth twitched as he wondered which Kaidanovsky the poor kid meant. Thankfully, Chuck was too busy glaring murderously at the floor to notice.

"Geiszler's a wanker. Gottlieb's right out, even if he wasn't married. Pentecost is... Pentecost. Just... no."

Another mouth twitch. "So I'm your dead-last pick? I'm flattered. Really."

That brought the kid's head up quick. "Oi, it's not like that. Just... was trying to... fuck, never mind. It's stupid. Forget I said anything, yeah?"

He could do this one of two ways. On one hand, letting the kid walk away and pretend like this conversation never happened would probably be smart to avoid any awkwardness between them if the proposed kiss went badly. On the other hand... why the hell did Chuck suddenly want to kiss a man? They'd lay arm-and-arm on the observation deck and stared up at the stars for hours and the kid hadn't said a word. What had changed?

"Chuck?"

The ginger head had slumped down, which was a shame. "Seriously, mate. Just forget about it."

"Yes."

A long pause.

His mouth twitched again. "You can kiss me a bit."

The kid lifted his head enough to spear him with a narrow-eyed glare. "You taking the piss?"

"A little bit?" He grinned, unable to help himself. "You gotta admit, kid. I couldn't exactly have seen this coming."

Chuck eyed him for a curiously long moment, then grunted. "I reckon. So...?"

Still grinning, Raleigh shook his head. "You're gonna make this really fucking awkward, aren't you?"

A snort. "Said as if there's any other way for this to go."

He rolled his eyes. "Can you at least sit down? Good grief."

Awkward now -- well, _more_ awkward -- the kid hesitantly approached the couch, then folded himself up enough to sit down a good two feet away. He wasn't used to Chuck looking so small. It didn't settle right, somehow.

Sighing, he shook his head. "Closer?"

Eyeing him suspiciously, the big dork inched his way over. He looked more like an animal approaching an obvious trap than someone with romance on their mind, even just as an experiment.

"For fuck's sake, Chuck. I'm not gonna bite."

It took every ounce of restraint not to waggle his eyebrows and add "unless you want me to" to the tail end there, but he managed. He couldn't quite keep his mouth from smirking, though.

Finally, Chuck sat close enough that their knees touched, his hands gripping his own knees with white-knuckle intensity. For the life of him, Raleigh couldn't figure out what had the kid so rattled. Was questioning his sexuality really that big a deal? How much of Chuck Hansen's machismo relied on him only desiring women?

He had no way of knowing. All he knew for sure was that this was serious shit for the kid, and he'd do well to remember that and not be a jerk.

They were friends, after all.

So he straightened his expression and just looked his friend straight on. Thankfully, it seemed to help, and something... fragile... went out of those changeable eyes. Settling himself, Chuck leaned closer and kissed him.

Raleigh wasn't sure what to expect. He'd never been with a guy himself, but he'd never ruled it out, either. Just... his life hadn't gone that way, and he'd been alone a long, long time. So it wasn't just a first for Chuck, and he wasn't sure what to... _do._

And then, that didn't matter. Warm, gentle lips. A hint of breath between one press of those lips and the next. The feeling of a large, strong, warm body close enough to touch, if he wanted.

Nice? More than just okay?

Chuck sighed without pulling away. "Oh." Another light kiss. "Yeah, shoulda... okay." Another kiss, a bit less chaste. "Wasn't wrong, after all."

What...?

Then a big but very gentle hand touched his cheek, his jaw, and Chuck kissed him again. The kid didn't force anything, but it was clear that this one wasn't an experiment. And Raleigh... didn't know what... couldn't....

"Caught myself looking just a bit too long, yeah? " Another kiss, those warm lips damp now and parting enough that Raleigh could almost taste inside. "Caught myself wondering...."

Oh. _Oh._ Chuck had... it wasn't just... _oh._

Should he stop this? The kisses were quickly progressing from experimental "does it feel okay" pecks to actual kisses. He just... it actually felt good. Not just nice, but _good._

He'd become used to Chuck sitting close by these past months, thanks to sharing a table at mealtimes and the occasional movie night and all the star-gazing, but he hadn't realized how... weirdly _comforting_ all that bulk was. How much heat that big body put out. The kid wasn't much bigger than him now that Raleigh had made up for living off rations for so long, but Chuck still seemed... broader, somehow. More solid.

And Raleigh _liked_ it. He hadn't even realized it until now, but....

Chuck made a low noise down in his throat and opened up, and if there was ever a moment to put a stop to the growing madness, this was it.

Instead, he threw caution to the wind and opened up, too. And when Chuck gently nudged and shifted, Raleigh obligingly lay back and stretched out on the couch. The feel of that bulk squeezing in along the couch's back and lying half over him was a strange sort of homecoming, it was so comfortable. It didn't feel weird or awkward at all.

And when Chuck flicked his tongue out, just for a second, before lifting away just enough to lean their foreheads together and sigh, Raleigh didn't try to think about what happened next. He couldn't possibly guess.

He'd never been good at thinking about the future, anyway.

He just... wanted to enjoy this feeling for a while longer. Chuck's warm hand on his face. Chuck's solid bulk cuddled up to his side. The warmth he felt upon seeing that fan of ginger lashes against pale, freckled cheeks because the kid had yet to open his eyes.

After a long, quiet moment, the big ginger dork grinned a bit. "Did I fuck it up?"

Grinning himself, he shook his head just enough to rock their foreheads together. "No. Did you know?"

"Not really, no." Finally, those ridiculous ginger lashes fluttered open, and Chuck lifted away just enough to meet his eyes. "I was pretty sure about me, but I didn't know about you."

His grin widened. "Don't feel bad. I had no fucking clue."

The big jerk laughed, surprised, his eyes brightening. "Such a wanker." He shook his head. "So... what now?"

Sobering a bit, he reached over and lightly touched the kid's hip. He hadn't really touched Chuck yet, but he was pretty sure of his welcome. And he was right.

"Can we just... not worry about that right now?"

Ginger eyebrows rose. So he grinned softly.

"I'm really comfortable. Can we just stay like this for a while?"

Oh, Lord have mercy with those fucking dimples. "Sap."

His eyebrows rose, even as he couldn't help matching that fucking smile. "You got a problem with that?"

Snorting, the big jerk cuddled down against him, arm over his chest and face pressed against his cheek and ear. "Reckon I'd better say no, eh?"

"Unless you want me to dropkick you off my couch, yeah. You'd better."

 _"Your_ couch."

He smirked even as he burrowed an arm under all that warm bulk and wrapped it around the kid's back. "I found it first."

Chuck didn't bother answering in actual words, but the grudging agreement was implicated in the low "hnn" as he shifted just that much and settled again.

Maybe this was stupid. Maybe they should just stay friends and not risk undoing all the progress they'd made. All the late-night poker games. All the movie marathons in their pajamas in one bunk or the other. All the walkies with Max, both around the shatterdome's grounds and over in Hong Kong proper.

Jesus.

When had they become so close? How had he not noticed? Had he really been alone so long that he couldn't tell one sort of closeness from another?

After all, for all that they'd shared mindspace, he and Mako didn't spend nearly as much time together, and not just because she was so busy these days helping Herc wrangle the UN into leaving them the hell alone. They were close, of course. But not... it wasn't like....

Sighing, he turned his face a bit and stroked his hand up and down Chuck's broad back. He was an idiot, yeah, but at least Chuck hadn't been _too_ far ahead of him. Just far enough to recognize the too-long looks. Just far enough to wonder.

He grinned. He guessed it hadn't been machismo tensing the kid up, after all.

"That grin better be about how comfortable you are right now, mate."

Chuckling, he shifted closer under all that bulk. "It is. I promise."

He didn't have to see the kid's grin to know exactly how deep those fucking dimples were. "Good."

And it was. The future would take care of itself, he guessed. It always had before, anyway.

In the here and now, everything was good.

**THE END**


End file.
